Careers
One of our Trust's key priorities is to raise the aspirations of our pupils and the communities we serve.
Careers Education at Co-op Academy Penny Oaks
- Our Careers Lead is Mr Mathew Waddington
- Our Careers programme is bespoke for our children at Penny Oaks to build a path for their futures in whatever they choose to do
- We hold the Quality in Careers Standard
How we deliver Careers Education | Information, Advice and Guidance (CEIAG)
Our career-based curriculum is embedded throughout our curriculum from the Early Years to Year 6 and includes visits from people in various careers and our annual Careers Week.
Our Year 6 children are encouraged to join our workforce where they must apply for specific jobs around school. They go through a full recruitment process giving them a sense of the real world. They even earn a salary!
Early Years
Activity:
Job roles and gender - this activity gives pupils their first experience of jobs in a fun and experiential way by using role play. The aim is to have fun while showing children that anyone can do any job.
Learning Outcomes:
Develop pupils' awareness of the range of jobs available to everyone
Key Stage 1
Activity:
Career stereotypes - this activity encourages pupils to think about who does different jobs and the idea that all jobs are for everyone. It aims to challenge early gender stereotypes.
Learning Outcomes:
Further development of pupils' awareness of the range of jobs available to everyone
Activity:
Our neighbourhood - this activity encourages pupils to explore jobs in their local area.
Learning Outcomes:
Further development of pupils' awareness of the range of jobs available to everyone in their local area.
Activity:
When I grow up - this activity encourages pupils to do some research and find out facts about a job they are interested in. This starts to expand pupils' understanding of jobs to build on in KS2.
Learning Outcomes:
Develop pupils' awareness of their current strengths, skills and qualities and how these link to specific sector / jobs.
Key Stage 2
Activity:
Career alphabet - this activity gets pupils to use the alphabet to identify all the weird and wonderful jobs which they may not have come across before and develop their knowledge of an unknown job.
Learning Outcomes:
Develop pupils' awareness of the wide range of jobs available.
Activity:
Career crossover - pupils start to think about how school subjects align with careers and jobs.
Learning Outcomes:
Developing pupils' awareness of how the subjects they study can be linked to a wide range of different jobs.
Activity:
Future world of work - encourages pupils to think about work in the future. Pupils are asked to think about what the world will be like in the future and what kind of jobs there will be. Then, working in pairs, they design their own job for the future.
Learning Outcomes:
Develop pupils' awareness of LMI with a focus on growth sectors.
Activity:
Primary World of Work – Y6 – a week of interactive workshops showcasing differing careers and an opportunity to apply for a work placement within the academy.
Learning Outcomes:
Students gain an understanding of the world of work, learning key employability skills through workshops and mock interviews.
Activity:
Transition into Y7 and what to expect in regard to careers education in a secondary academy.
Learning Outcomes:
All pupils start to understand that their career journey has started and will evolve with further support and guidance from their secondary school.
Whole school Careers week
In Careers week we met a pilot, some firefighters, a person who works for ITV an actor from the theatre, Bradford Bulls, the director of Yorkshire Water, people who work for different charities and an ex footballer who champions mental health and wellbeing.
We also all became engineers and built our own box cars. We then tested them down a ramp to see how far they would travel.
Year 6 workforce
We have a very successful Year 6 workforce. The children have to apply for a role in school and if successful in their application, go through to an interview. The children work hard in their roles throughout the week getting their time sheets signed at the end of every session they complete. Once the timesheet is signed, they can collect the payment tokens at the end of the week. The children choose what to do with their tokens, they can spend them straight away to pay for a chosen item from the 'shop' or they can save them up to get something of greater value.